Apparatus and method for a web programmable telephone

ABSTRACT

A web programmable telephone and a method for operating a web programmable telephone are disclosed. In one embodiment of the present invention, a voice module of a wireless household telephone is controlled by an internal web module that can retrieve and execute data operations from a remote portal or server thus adding data functionality to the conventional functions of a telephone. The programmable web module controls all functionality of the web programmable telephone so that every function of the telephone can be programmed and customized by a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/179,269, filed on Jul. 24, 2008, which in turn is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/001,407, filed on Nov. 30, 2004,issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,613,477.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field

This invention relates generally to telecommunications, morespecifically, to an apparatus combining a web module and a voice module,allowing the web module to control the voice module to establish voicefunctionality such as making a call, receiving a call, dropping a call,accessing a contact list and more sophisticated data functionality.

2. Related Art

Cordless telephones have become a commodity household item. Theconvenience and flexibility provided by a telephone handset notphysically attached to a telephone jack or an electrical outlet fitswell with modern life. In addition, the price of cordless telephones hasbeen declining steadily while the quality has been improving.Nevertheless, cordless telephones are primarily designed for voicecommunication. Their ability to handle data is extremely limited. Themost common data application with current cordless telephones is limitedto simple memory-stored speed-dial numbers.

As consumers grow more technologically savvy, they are continuouslyseeking more sophisticated integration of voice, data and other featuresto make life more convenient and productive. The trend is apparent inmobile voice services as well as entertainment devices such as MP3 musicplayers and portable video players. Currently cellular telephones arefully capable of supporting voice communication features such as voicetags as well as data applications such as text, picture, and videomessaging and Internet browsing. The differences in capabilities betweenhousehold telephones and cellular telephones represent an interestingcontrast of otherwise similar modern conveniences. Therefore there is aneed for a household telephone with data technologies to be in par withother integrated data and voice technologies.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention resides in an apparatus and method to make and operate aweb programmable telephone. A programmable module that is linked to aremote server or portal controls all conventional telephonefunctionality of a voice module. Additionally, sophisticatedprogrammable functionality can be added to a telephone by enabling a webinterface capable of retrieving, loading and executing programs fromremotely stored web pages. Such added data functionality includes, butis not limited to, interactive multimedia interface, home control andsecurity interface, and more sophisticated telephone operations such asdisplay of detailed caller information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a web programmable telephone.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a voice module portion of a webprogrammable telephone.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a web module portion of a web programmabletelephone.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of making a telephone call with a webprogrammable telephone.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of receiving a telephone call with a webprogrammable telephone.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of dropping a call with a web programmabletelephone.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of accessing a contact list page with a webprogrammable telephone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a web programmable telephone. The web programmabletelephone has two major modules: web module 120 and voice module 150.Web module 120 controls the functionalities of the voice module 150through a controlling interface 135. The functionalities of the voicemodule 150 include, but are not limited to making a call, receiving acall, and dropping a call. Other functions such as call conferencing,voice mail, and interactive voice response can be implemented similarlyby those skilled in the art, upon reviewing the illustrations.

In one embodiment, the controlling interface 135 is TelephonyApplication Programming Interface (TAPI).

In one embodiment, the voice module 150 combines the Media ServiceProvider (MSP) and the Telephony Service Provider (TSP).

In one embodiment, the controlling interface 135 presents thecall-controlling interface similar to that of Q.931.

In one embodiment, the controlling interface 135 is a CTI orCTI-equivalent interface. The implementation of the controllinginterface 135 should be obvious to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 2 illustrates a voice module comprising a telephony processor 250,a speaker 255, a microphone 257 and a signal interface 260. During atelephone session, audio signals are received from the user by themicrophone 257 and transmitted to the signal interface 260.Simultaneously signals are received by the signal interface 260 andoutput through speaker 255.

The telephony processor 250 can apply different processing to the audiosignals received from the microphone 257 and the signals received fromthe signal interface 260, depending on the different types of signalinterface 260.

In one embodiment, the signal interface 260 is a digital signalinterface DS0. The telephony processor 250 performs analog-to-digitalconversion on the audio signals from the microphone 257, anddigital-to-analog conversion on the signals from the signal interface260.

In one embodiment, the signal interface 260 is a wireless interfacesupporting 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz, and DECT frequency. These aretypical spectrum for cordless telephones. Other equivalent frequenciescan also serve as the signal interface 260.

In one embodiment, the signal interface 260 is a voice over IPinterface. The telephony processor 250 converts the analog audio signalsto digital format; formats the bits into proper RTP (Real Time Protocol)packets and transmits the packets in an IP network. In the reversedirection, the telephony processor 250 receives the IP packets from thesignal interface 260, extracts the RTP packets, further extracts thedigital signals within the RTP packets, applies jitter and packet losscontrol, converts the digital signals into analog signals, and plays theanalog signals onto the speaker.

In one embodiment, the telephony processor 250 compresses the digitalcontent before formatting into RTP packets, and decompresses the contentfrom the RTP packets. The telephony processor 250, the speaker 255, themicrophone 257 and the signal interface 260 are common in thetelecommunications industry. Implementation of such should be known tothose skilled in the art.

FIG. 3 illustrates a web module. In one embodiment the web modulecontains a browser 320, which communicates to a web server using HTTPand other web protocols including but not limited to secure HTTP andFTP.

In one embodiment, the browser 320 is a Java run time engine, whichcommunicates to other Java run time engines through Java specific andrecommended protocols such as RMI, JINI, and LDAP.

In one embodiment, the browser 320 is a .NET environment. The browser320 connects to the display 325 for presenting the web page content.There are different possible types of displays, including text display,graphical display, monochrome and color.

Optionally, display 325 may include a speaker or an audio-out jack forplaying audio content. With audio capability, a web programmabletelephone can be used to play music files from a central music fileserver. A web programmable telephone can be programmed to receive anddecode music files from a server through network interface 310 andplayed on the optional speaker or audio-out jack of display 325.

Optionally, a web programmable telephone can be programmed to play musicbroadcast from a central portal to the signal interface 260 and playedon the speaker 255 or an optional audio-out jack capable of be coupledto external speakers or audio system.

In one embodiment, a web programmable telephone can be programmed to actas room monitor wherein microphone 257 sends audio signals to telephonyprocessor 250 for appropriate processing which then broadcast the signalthrough signal interface 260 to a central portal or another webprogrammable telephone as needed.

In one embodiment, a web programmable telephone can be use both networkinterface 310 and signal interface 260 to act as a multimedia interfaceto files on a central server. In such an embodiment, single-player andmulti-player games could be played where the visual and controller datacan be handled by the web-module 120 and the audio content is deliveredthrough voice module 150.

In one embodiment, a web programmable telephone can be programmed to actas a home security interface providing for data code transmissionthrough input subsystem 327 of web module 120 and optional added voicerecognition security capabilities through voice module 150.

In one embodiment, a web programmable telephone can be used to browsethe Internet. Browser 320 can run an Internet browsing page in which auser can enter a desired domain name or IP address of a website throughinput subsystem 327 and the browser would then retrieve data from awebsite through network interface 310. The data can then be displayed ondisplay 325 or played on either an optional speaker built into display325 or played on speaker 255 of the voice module of the web programmabletelephone.

In one embodiment, there is no visual display. Web page content isplayed to the speaker only. The browser 320 receives user input from theinput subsystem 327. The input subsystem 327 may include a keypad, akeyboard, a touch screen, a touch screen for use with a stylus forinput, or a microphone. Furthermore the browser 320 accesses the datastore 340 for configurations and other data.

The network interface 310 connects the browser 320 to other computingdevices in one or more networks. The network interface 310 includes oneor more network access methods, including but not limited to wirednetwork such as Ethernet or wireless networks such as CDMA 1x, GPRS,3GPP, Bluetooth, infra-red, Wi-Fi. The network interface 310 containsthe necessary protocol stacks to communicate with other computingdevices so that a communication session can be established between thebrowser 320 and a computing server.

In one embodiment, the browser 320 is a Web browser and a computingserver is a Web server. The network interface 310 accesses the datastore 340 for configuration and other data.

FIG. 3 illustrates a web module where the browser 320 is a web browser.The browser 320 connects to the web servers through the networkinterface 310. Configuration and other data necessary for normaloperation of the browser are found in the data store 340.

The typical telephone functions such as making a telephone call,receiving a telephone call and dropping a telephone call are handled bythe three web pages dialing page 322 a, receiving page 322 b anddisconnecting page 322 c respectively. The processing of these pages isillustrated later in this description.

When the web programmable telephone is powered on, browser 320 isinitialized which then initializes the web module 120. The browser 320determines from the configuration stored in data store 340 the locationof the web server.

In one embodiment, the browser 320 receives the web server informationfrom the network interface 310.

In one embodiment, the user selects one web server when there are manyweb servers capable of serving the web programmable telephone.

After the web programmable telephone is initialized, the browser 320gets the receiving page 322 b from the web server. The main function ofthe receiving page 322 b is to receive a call. The processing ofreceiving a call is illustrated in FIG. 5. Upon successful receipt of anincoming call, the receiving page 322 b instructs the browser 320 to getthe disconnecting page 322 c from the web server. The main function ofthe disconnecting page 322 c is to drop a call. The processing ofdropping a call is illustrated in FIG. 6. After the telephone call isdropped, the browser 320 gets the receiving page 322 b from the webserver in order to receive the next telephone call. When a user directsthe web programmable telephone to make a call, the browser 320 gets thedialing page 322 a from the web server. The main function of dialingpage 322 a is to make a call. The processing of making a call isillustrated in FIG. 4. Upon success of making a call, the browser 320gets the disconnecting page 322 c from the web server in order to drop acall.

Typically the web module 120 will cycle through the processing of thedialing page 322 a, receiving page 322 b and disconnecting page 322 cuntil the web programmable telephone is powered off.

In one embodiment, the web programmable telephone allows the user toaccess a contact list page from the web server. The browser 320 gets thecontact list page from the web server. An example of processing acontact list page is illustrated in FIG. 7.

In one embodiment, the web programmable telephone supports other voicefunctionalities such as voice mail, teleconferencing, and callforwarding. Additional web pages can be obtained from the web server.The browser 320 will obtain these web pages as instructed by other webpages. These web pages employ the programmability of the HTML, XML,Java, JavaScript and other hypertext and scripting languages supportedby the browser 320, as well as the programmability of the controllinginterface 335.

In one embodiment, the receiving page 322 b, after accepting thetelephone call, instructed the browser 320 to get the disconnecting page322 c. In the same embodiment, the disconnecting page 322 c instructsthe browser 320 to get the receiving page 322 b when the telephone callis terminated. While the browser 320 is displaying the receiving page322 b, the receiving page 322 b receives the input that the user picksup the telephone, and instructs the browser 320 to get the dialing page322 a.

In one embodiment, the receiving page 322 b displays a “Call” button.Upon receiving a user input of the selection of the “Call” button, thereceiving page 322 b instructs the browser 320 to get the dialing page322 a.

FIG. 4 illustrates the process of dialing a call. When a user is readyto make a call, the browser 420 gets the dialing page 422. In oneembodiment, the dialing page 422 displays a number pad on the display425 and waits for the user to enter the calling telephone number. Whenthe user inputs the entire calling telephone number, the dialing page422 receives it from the input subsystem 427. The dialing page 422invokes the controlling interface 435 to play a dial tone.

In embodiment, the dialing page 422 plays the dial tone as soon as it isloaded into the browser. Optionally, the dialing page 422 plays the dialtone after it receives partially or completely the input. Then thedialing page 422 invokes the controlling interface 435 to initiate atelephone call to the calling telephone number. Upon receiving thecompletion indication of the telephone call initiation from thecontrolling interface 435, the dialing page 422 asks the browser to getthe disconnecting page 622.

Optionally, dialing page 422 will include an option to dial two or moretelephone numbers for the purpose of conducting a teleconference call.

Optionally, a separate teleconferencing page that can be called fromdialing page 422 can handle teleconferencing. The teleconferencing pagecan be implemented in a number of ways depending on the telephony systemto which the web programmable telephone is connected.

In one embodiment, the web programmable telephone is connected to two ormore distinct telephone lines and the teleconferencing page would placea call to two or more of those lines such that one or more of the peoplecalled can participate in the teleconference conversation.

In one embodiment, the web programmable telephone is connected to atelephone system that controls the teleconferencing. Theteleconferencing page would provide the telephone numbers to thetelephone system such that one or more of the people called couldparticipate in the telephone conversation.

Optionally, the teleconferencing page can designate which of thetelephone numbers called for a teleconference will have full or limitedparticipation in the teleconference call. In the case that the numbercalled is designated as a full participant in the teleconference, thenthe person called on that number would be able to hear and respond toevery other person in the teleconference. In the case that the numbercalled is designated as a limited participant in the teleconference,then the person called on that number would only be able to hear orrespond to a limited number of teleconference participants.

Optionally, the dialing page 422 will include an option to dial into theeither a service provider voice mail system or connect to a telephoneanswering machine.

In one embodiment, the dialing page 422 contains an option for the userto choose a telephone number from a contact list. When the user selectsthe option, the dialing page 422 asks the browser to load the contactlist page 722. The processing of the contact list page 722 is describedlater in FIG. 7.

In one embodiment, the browser loads the dialing page 422 with a defaultcalling telephone number. The user confirms the calling telephonenumber. The dialing page 422 proceeds to make the telephone call asdescribed above. This embodiment is used, for example, after the userselects the calling telephone number from the contact list page 722.

Optionally, the dialing page 422 automatically makes the telephone callwith the default calling telephone number, without asking the user forconfirmation.

Optionally, the dialing page 422 invokes the controlling interface 435to play the dial tone before prompting the user for the callingtelephone number or confirmation.

Optionally, the dialing page 422 does not play the dial tone.

FIG. 5 illustrates the process of receiving a call. The receiving page522 listens to events from the controlling interface 535. In oneembodiment, the receiving page 522 registers with the controllinginterface 535 on incoming call indication event. Upon receiving anincoming call indication from the signal interface 260, the voice module550 informs, through the controlling interface 535, the receiving page522 of an incoming call event.

In one embodiment, the incoming call indication includes informationabout the caller. The incoming call information includes, for example,the caller identity. Upon receipt of the incoming call indication fromthe controlling interface 535, the receiving page 522 retrieves anygiven incoming call information indicated by the controlling interface535.

In one embodiment, the receiving page 522 invokes the controllinginterface 535 to play a ring tone.

In one embodiment, the receiving page 522 uses the incoming callinformation such as the caller identity or the calling telephone numberto determine a ring tone to play.

In one embodiment, the receiving page displays an incoming callindication to the display 525. The display can be a flashing LED light.The display can also be an icon or a digital image on the display 525.

In one embodiment, the display includes the caller information such ascaller identity.

The receiving page 522 waits for the user to pick up the webprogrammable telephone to answer the incoming call.

In one embodiment, when a user picks up the web programmable telephonethe receiving page 522 immediately turns off the display of an incomingcall indication. It then invokes the controlling interface 535 to acceptthe telephone call.

In one embodiment, the receiving page 522 only displays an incoming callLED. When a user picks up the web programmable telephone, the receivingpage 522 displays the incoming call information.

In one embodiment, the receiving page 522 posts a query using theincoming call information to a web server. The web server may have atelephone directory containing names, addresses and other personal andbusiness information about the caller. The web server responds to thequery with the found additional information. The receiving page 522displays the information to the display 525.

In one embodiment, the receiving page 522 asks the browser to load adifferent receiving page that contains the additional callerinformation. Upon reviewing the additional caller information, the userconfirms to accept the telephone call. The receiving page 522 theninvokes the controlling interface 535 to receive the telephone call.

While the receiving page 522 is waiting for an incoming call, if theuser picks up the web programmable telephone, the receiving page 522asks the browser to load the dialing page 422. In another embodiment,the user presses the on-button to indicate to the receiving page 522 toask the browser to load the dialing page 422.

FIG. 6 illustrates the process of dropping a call. While a user isconducting a telephone call, the web programmable telephone is runningthe disconnecting page 622. The disconnecting page 622 continuouslywaits for the user to drop the call. When the user desires to drop thecall, the user selects the “Off” button in the input subsystem.

In one embodiment, the user touches an “Off” button on input subsystem627. When the disconnecting page 622 receives the input from the inputsubsystem 627, it invokes the controlling interface 635 to disconnectthe telephone call.

There are a number of embodiments to handle the possible scenario inwhich the other party drops a call first.

In one embodiment the disconnecting page 622 does not detect thesituation. The user eventually realizes the other party is no longer onthe telephone call. The user presses the off-button to drop the call.The disconnecting page 622 proceeds the processing as describedpreviously.

In one embodiment, the voice module 650 monitors the call and detects along silence period. The voice module 650 determines the other party haseither dropped the call or has no interests in continuing the call. Thevoice module 650 indicates to the disconnecting page 622 of the droppedcall event. The disconnecting page 622 displays the indication of thedropped call event to the user and prompts the user to then proceed todrop the call as described above.

In one embodiment, telephone being called is connected to a telephonesystem that will generate a disconnect signal, such as a dial tone. Thevoice module 650 detects the disconnect signal or indication through thesignal interface 260 and further indicates to the disconnecting page 622through the controlling interface 635 that the call has beendisconnected. The disconnecting page 622 indicates to the user of thecall drop and prompts the user to drop the call as described above.

In one embodiment, the disconnecting page 622 invokes the controllinginterface 635 to ask the voice module to disconnect the call. Thedisconnecting page 622 then informs the user that the call is dropped.After the call is disconnected, the disconnecting page 622 asks thebrowser to load the receiving page 522 to wait for an incoming call.

FIG. 7 illustrates the process of accessing a telephone list. It isoften convenient for the user to use his contact book to find atelephone number before dialing it.

In one embodiment, there is an option on the dialing page 422 for theuser to access a telephone list. When the user selects the telephonelist option the browser 720 will load the contact list page 722 from aweb server through the network interface 710. The user navigates thecontact list page 722 and selects a number to dial. The contact listpage 722 asks the browser 720 to load the dialing page 422 with thecalling telephone number. The dialing page 422 then prompts the user toconfirm the number and makes the call as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In one embodiment, the dialing page 422, without prompting userconfirmation, automatically makes the call as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In one embodiment, the contact list page 722 allows the user to makemodification to the contact list page entries by accepting user inputfrom the input subsystem. The modification is posted by the browser 720to a web server specified in the contact list page 722. Suchimplementation should be obvious to those skilled in the art.

In the above illustrations, the web programmable telephone is used tomake regular telephone calls. In one embodiment, a web programmabletelephone is used only for receiving calls. Receiving page 522 does notperform any action to make a call when the user picks up the telephone.

Optionally, receiving page 522 displays no options for the user to makea call. In such an embodiment, it is possible to combine the receivingpage 522 and the disconnecting page 622 into a single page.

In one embodiment, the web programmable telephone is used only formaking calls. The receiving page 522 always rejects incoming callsindicated by the controlling interface 535.

In one embodiment, the web programmable telephone supports multiplelines and can handle two telephone calls simultaneously. The browser 320runs multiple pages simultaneously. A user can make a telephone callusing the dialing page 422, while on another call using thedisconnecting page 622.

In one embodiment, there are multiple executing instances of the browser320 handling the multiple pages.

In one embodiment, the browser 320 handles the multiple pages by havingmultiple processing threads. In such an embodiment, the user is on acall conducting the telephone conversation while browser 320 isdisplaying the disconnecting page 322 c in one processing thread,another processing thread of the browser 320 is processing the receivingpage 322 b. When incoming call event occurs, receiving page 322 binstructs the browser 320 to alert the user of an incoming call. Anoption to instruct browser 320 to switch to the receiving page 322 b isdisplayed. Receiving page 322 b would then display an option to acceptor to decline the call.

In one embodiment, the user can access the contact list page 722 whileshe is conducting a telephone conversation.

In a different embodiment, the browser 320 handles a plurality ofprocessing threads, allowing the user to handle a plurality ofsimultaneous activities.

Foregoing described embodiments of the invention are provided asillustrations and descriptions. They are not intended to limit theinvention to precise form described. In particular, it is contemplatedthat functional implementation of invention described herein may beimplemented equivalently in hardware, software, firmware, and/or otheravailable functional components or building blocks, and that networksmay be wired, wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless. Othervariations and embodiments are possible in light of above teachings, andit is thus intended that the scope of invention not be limited by thisDetailed Description, but rather by Claims following.

1. A web programmable telephone comprising: a voice module forperforming one or more telephone functions, wherein the one or moretelephone functions comprise a receiving a call function; and a webmodule for obtaining one or more web pages containing executableinstructions, wherein execution of the instructions causes the voicemodule to perform the receiving a call function.
 2. The web programmabletelephone of claim 1, wherein the web module comprises a browser,wherein the browser is capable of executing the instructions containedin the one or more web pages, wherein the browser is capable ofcommunicating with a Web server using HTTP, FTP, or other web protocols.3. The web programmable telephone of claim 1, wherein the web modulecomprises a browser, wherein the browser is capable of executing theinstructions contained in the one or more web pages, wherein theinstructions comprise HTML, XML, JavaScript, or other scriptinglanguage.
 4. The web programmable telephone of claim 1, wherein theinstructions comprise Java programming instructions, wherein theexecution of the Java programming instructions causes the voice moduleto perform the receiving a call function.
 5. The web programmabletelephone of claim 1, wherein the execution of the instructions furthercauses the voice module to listen for an incoming call event and toreceive an incoming call indication from a signal interface.
 6. The webprogrammable telephone of claim 5, wherein the incoming call indicationcomprises a caller identity or a caller telephone number of the incomingcall.
 7. The web programmable telephone of claim 1, wherein theexecution of the instructions further causes the voice module to invokean acceptance of an incoming telephone call in response to a useranswering the incoming call.
 8. The web programmable telephone of claim7, wherein the execution of the instructions further causes the voicemodule to display information about a caller of the incoming call priorto the user answering the incoming call.
 9. The web programmabletelephone of claim 8, wherein the execution of the instructions furthercauses the web module to load a different web page containing additionalcaller information.
 10. The web programmable telephone of claim 1,wherein the execution of the instructions further causes the voicemodule to perform a making a call function.
 11. A method for operating aweb programmable telephone, comprising: obtaining one or more web pagesby a web module, the one or more web pages containing executableinstructions for providing a receiving a call function; and executingthe instructions contained in the one or more web pages, wherein theexecution of the instructions causes a voice module to perform thereceiving a call function.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the webmodule comprises a browser, wherein the browser executes theinstructions contained in the one or more web pages, wherein the browseris capable of communicating with a Web server using HTTP, FTP, or otherweb protocols.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the web modulecomprises a browser, wherein the browser executes the instructionscontained in the one or more web pages, wherein the instructionscomprise HTML, XML, JavaScript, or other scripting language.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the instructions comprise Java programminginstructions, wherein the execution of the Java programming instructionscauses the voice module to perform the receiving a call function. 15.The method of claim 11, wherein the execution of the instructionsfurther causes the voice module to listen for an incoming call event andto receive an incoming call indication from a signal interface.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the incoming call indication comprises acaller identity or a caller telephone number of the incoming call. 17.The method of claim 11, wherein the execution of the instructionsfurther causes the voice module to invoke an acceptance of an incomingtelephone call in response to a user answering the incoming call. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein the execution of the instructionsfurther causes the voice module to display information about a caller ofthe incoming call prior to the user answering the incoming call.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the execution of the instructions furthercauses the web module to load a different web page containing additionalcaller information.
 20. A computer program product for operating a webprogrammable telephone, the computer program product comprising: acomputer readable storage medium comprising one or more web pagesembodied therewith, the one or more web pages containing executableinstructions for providing a receiving a call function, the instructionsconfigured to cause a voice module to perform a receiving a callfunction.
 21. The medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions arefurther configured to communicate with a Web server using HTTP, FTP, orother web protocols.
 22. The medium of claim 20, wherein theinstructions comprise HTML, XML, JavaScript, or other scriptinglanguage.
 23. The medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions compriseJava programming instructions configured to cause the voice module toperform the receiving a call function.
 24. The medium of claim 20,wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the voicemodule to listen for an incoming call event and to receive an incomingcall indication from a signal interface.
 25. The medium of claim 24,wherein the incoming call indication comprises information about acaller of the incoming call.
 26. The medium of claim 20, wherein theinstructions are further configured to cause the voice module to invokean acceptance of an incoming telephone call in response to a useranswering the incoming call.
 27. The medium of claim 26, wherein theinstructions are further configured to cause the web module to load adifferent web page containing additional caller information.